Gurdaspur

Gurdaspur (Hindi - गुरदासपुर, Punjabi - ਗੁਰਦਾਸਪੁਰ) is a city and district in the province of East Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort (later turned into a Brahman monastery) which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals.

History

It is historically important in connection with the rise of the Sikh Confederacy. The whole of the Punjab was then distributed among the Sikh chiefs who triumphed over the Imperial Mughal governors. In the course of a few years, however, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Punjab) acquired all the territory which those chiefs had held. Pathankot and the neighboring villages in the plain, together with the whole of the hill portion of the district, formed part of the area ceded by the Sikhs to the British after the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1845. In 1862, after receiving one or two additions, the district was brought into its present shape. In 1901 the population was 940,334, showing a slight decrease, compared with an increase of 15% in the previous decade.

Gurdaspur was founded by Sahib Deep Chand and was named after his grandfather Guriya in the beginning of 17th century. In his honour, this city was named Gurdaspur. He bought land for Gurdaspur from the Jats of Sangi Gotra. Guriya a Sanwal Brahmin of Kaushal Gotra came from Paniar a village situated 5 miles north of Gurdaspur. The ancestors of Guriya came from Ayodhaya and settled in Paniar. Guriya Ji had two sons Nawal Rai and Pala. The descendants of Nawal Rai settled in Gurdaspur and Nawal Rai’s son Baba Deep Chand was a contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh. It is believed that Guru Gobind Singh gave the title of Ganj Bakhsh (Owner Of Treasure) to Baba Deep Chand. The descendants of Baba Deep Chand are called mahants

Jat clans in Gurdaspur District

According to B S Dhillon,[1], the Jat clans in the district with population are as under: